Immigration Politics - Mississippi: Immigration enforcement has high cost

In Mississippi, the police and local sheriffs have objections to being given the responsibility to identify "illegal immigrants." This was also the case with the Arizona law, which some police chiefs in the big cities said they wouldn't enforce. Police groups in other states, such as Florida, are also objecting to being given this added responsibility and cost.

Immigration enforcement has high cost » The Commercial Appeal: "Public Safety Commissioner Stephen Simpson tossed cold water Tuesday on an immigration bill that, if passed and signed into law, would let law enforcement officers in Mississippi demand proof of citizenship from drivers stopped for traffic violations.

The legislation would require his department to hire 11 experts, at a cost of about $1.2 million a year, who would pore over suspected illegal immigrants’ documents to determine their validity, Simpson told members of the Senate Judiciary A Committee.

Local sheriffs then would have to bear the cost of housing the immigrants and pay for transporting them to the nearest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility, which is in Louisiana, he said. “Jails would fill up,” Simpson said." Jan. 12, 2011